Lower School
What to expect from Lower School
- Skills Tailored to Each Student
- Master Classes
- Self-Efficacy
- Soft Skills Development
Projects are a driving force in the Summers-Knoll 1st through the 4th grade curriculum.
The Lower School Experience
At Summers-Knoll, we foster meaningful learning that is both informed by and connected to the world outside the school walls, at Summers-Knoll, projects are a driving force in the 1st through the 4th-grade curriculum. Through project-based instruction, SK teachers foster engagement, deep learning, and critical thinking about issues in and beyond the classroom. As students progress through the grades, the complexity of the projects and the sophistication of thinking develops.
SK teachers design and enact four main projects over the course of a four-quarter academic year. Teachers’ project design is informed by grade-level content standards, students’ background knowledge, and interests. With students’ vertical learning trajectories in mind, teachers decide which skills and core subjects will be integrated into the projects and what educational goals will be addressed separately.
Master Classes from experts are an essential and regular part of our curriculum. Equipped with a sense of purpose, SK students take academic risks, persist when challenges arise, and try again when they fall short of meeting their goals. Recognizing the value of both the learning process and the product, students develop the ability to reflect upon and communicate not only what they are learning but also why they are learning.
While projects provide an overarching, thematic structure and purpose for a class’s learning journey, teachers address individual student needs through one-on-one and small group instruction. Through ongoing, formal and informal assessments, teachers identify individual students’ strengths and areas for social, emotional, and academic growth. As a result of small class sizes, SK teachers really get to know and appreciate each student for who they are as an individual human beings, a learner, and a member of communities within and outside of the classroom. As each teacher gets to know each student, students also get to know themselves – intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically – and appreciate their individuality as well as the diversity of perspectives represented among their peers and in the broader community.
Local and Global Neighborhood Learning Walks
Interconnectedness Among All Living Things
Meet Our Lower School Teachers
Ian Cook
icook@summers-knoll.org
Ian was born in the Ann Arbor area and went to school in Dexter before completing his Bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science and Spanish at the University of Michigan. In high school and at college, he was involved in a variety of activities, including theatre organizations, orchestras, the student newspaper, and a robotics club. Ian believes life is full of opportunities for him to reflect, learn, and grow, and is excited to help that process occur within the young folk at Summers-Knoll. After he graduated college, Ian spent an academic year in Spain as a classroom assistant, helping students there improve their English skills. This experience made him realize how joyful and rewarding working with kids is. Before working at Summers-Knoll, Ian worked with neurodivergent individuals one-on-one, doing interpersonal therapy with the goal of fostering social, emotional, and independent living skills. He is happy to now be part of the Aftercare team and to assist in classrooms this year. Outside of work at the school, Ian enjoys playing board and role-playing games, reading books, spending time with family, hanging out with and supporting friends, playing video games, riding bikes, kayaking, and continuing to learn.
Ian Cook
Upper School Teacher
Imogen Giles
igiles@summers-knoll.org
I am the Languages teacher at Summers-Knoll and have been an SK faculty member for over a decade. I teach Latin to every class from Preschool to 8th grade and French from 1st to 8th grade. This role in our school life means I am known as Magistra and as Madame, and I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to begin a Latin program for the School when I was first appointed to transform what was a small French program to one that embraces all our students.
I gained my Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of London in England. I taught in a number of independent schools before becoming the Head of Classics at Cobham Hall School in Kent and then moving to this country.
I am an ardent reader and love classical music, ballet, drawing, and painting. I also love to travel and look forward to spending each Summer with my family in our home in France.
Imogen Giles
French and Latin Teacher
Barbara Hohmann
bhohmann@summers-knoll.org
Hello, my name is Barbara Hohmann. I am a First and Second grade teacher at Summers-Knoll. This is my sixth year at Summers-Knoll, first as a parent, then as a substitute, and then lead teacher. I am a passionate, creative person and always work hard to do my best.
I was raised in Okinawa until I was 10 years old and then my family moved to New Smyrna Bleach, Florida. I feel the relationships that I have formed throughout my life are powerful and have shaped who I am. Given this, teaching is some of the most important work I can do. Through human connection, I believe that we have the ability to cause change.
Over the past 20 years I have taught and learned from young people as a camp counselor, public school teacher, children’s shelter counselor and teacher, Waldorf teacher, museum educator, art teacher, and mother. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and a Masters in Education and Arts Administration, both from Florida State University. I also have a degree in Surface Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and a Waldorf teaching certificate from the Waldorf Institute of SouthEast Michigan.
When I am not teaching I enjoy my wonderful family. My partner and two children keep me busy, rock climbing, surfing, fishing and going on adventures. I love the ocean, plants and creating things.
Barbara Hohmann
1st/2nd Grade Teacher
Myia Love
Myia Love
Aftercare Attendant
Erika Noel
enoel@summers-knoll.org
Erika was born and raised in Ann Arbor and earned two bachelor’s degrees (Cultural Anthropology and Environmental Studies) at the University of Michigan. She has been teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 23 years and is thrilled to part of the SK community. Her teaching career began in outdoor/environmental education, where students regularly asked her, “Why can’t school always be like this?” This question drove her to get her teaching credential and devote the next 15 years to bringing thematically integrated, hands-on, project-based learning to grades 1-6 in both public and private schools. In addition, Erika spent two years teaching and writing curriculum for the education department at The Lawrence Hall of Science.
Erika’s passion is science, and thus, it has been the main through line in her career. Her hobbies are hiking, birding, traveling, reading, gardening, and dancing.
Erika Noel
3rd/4th Grade Teacher
Mary Perrin
mperrin@summers-knoll.org
This is my 8th year at Summers-Knoll. My BFA is from EMU, and my skill base in the arts is wide, varied, and always growing. I currently work with an artist’s collective based in Detroit, building themed vehicles, sets, and activities for creative events.
Though I am working towards becoming a certified teacher, I believe my background in the “real world” of Art, as opposed to arts education, is one of the strengths I bring to the school. Many things can only be learned through doing, and I have a lifetime of experience being an artist, working with other artists, and presenting my art to the public. My goal is to teach your children how to teach themselves art so they can continue to learn and grow as artists and creative thinkers long after they leave my classroom.
Mary Perrin
Art Teacher
Explore our Signature Academic Programs
Through exploration, experimentation, and play, our preschool students find deep understanding in appropriate academic and social learning environments.
1st – 4th Grade
Our lower school students continue their interdisciplinary core subject discoveries with a focus on collaboration and independence.
5th – 8th Grade
Our Upper School students are prepared for success in high school, college, and life. Our program culminates in eight 21st century proficiencies by creating an instructional program so that students can apply what they have learned.
Young Explorers
Lower School
Upper School
